


Replay (PM 01:27)

by greyquill



Category: NCT (Band), WayV (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Love Confessions, M/M, Mentioned WayV Ensemble, One Shot, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-22 15:35:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22385170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyquill/pseuds/greyquill
Summary: Taeyong's tired of hiding his feelings and flies to China to confess to Ten.
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten
Comments: 8
Kudos: 164





	Replay (PM 01:27)

He’s crazy. 

This is crazy. 

_All of this is crazy._

He boards the plane, making himself comfortable in his aisle seat, adjusting the face mask over the bridge of his nose. The sooner he gets off the plane, the better. He hopes his manager doesn’t call with sudden changes to his schedule. He’ll have a hard time explaining his disappearance, but he has to go. 

The boarding pass folded in his pocket is for a round trip flight to China and back. He’s got until 12 AM KST to do what he has to do. His leg jitters, jumping a bit uncontrollably as he waits for the plane to take off. His stomach drops as the plane takes to the sky, but the anxious knotting overpowers the sensation. He turns up the music on his phone and closes his eyes. At least he’s got time to think of what he’s going to tell Ten when he sees him. 

Really, he bought the ticket on a whim and as the plane cruises over the clouds and expanse of sea between the two landmasses, he finds himself scrambling. He’s always had a crush on Ten, even before they debuted. Who wouldn’t? He’s beautiful, kind, and dedicated. His smile. His smile alone melts his brain into mush. And his eyes! His eyes are indescribably alluring. 

His crush developed into something akin to love after they debuted and reached its peak when they were chosen to work together on their duet, Baby Don’t Stop. Those were the days Taeyong thought their bond perhaps could’ve developed into something a little more than what they were. That’s until Ten, along with Lucas, Winwin, and Kun, were displaced, seemingly separated from NCT to join a new group, or sub-unit, even he, as the leader, doesn’t know what the bond is between their two groups. Their company works in mysterious ways that often leave everyone confused, and despite his value to them, getting answers to some questionable actions is near-impossible. 

So his time with Ten was cut short, and unfortunately, his feelings didn’t go away. Sometimes he’d catch a glimpse of the three new members, always busy in the practice rooms or studios, eagerly bettering themselves, but seeing Ten was about as rare as the Dream dorm being clean. 

Then came along the SuperM project, which didn’t really help Taeyong trying to get over Ten in the first place. He’d seen their nctzens reacting to just about everything they were doing, so he also saw all the growing popularity for the new ship that was Kun and Ten. At first, he didn’t really understand it, but then he saw all their “evidence”. They’d make a cute couple, dynamic-wise… and he supposes they did grow closer over their time spent preparing for WayV and perhaps it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to assume the two had an intimate relationship of some sort. Ten definitely looked much happier than he ever did with NCT, so maybe that would be the end of things, and Ten would stay as Ten, and Taeyong would go back to being Taeyong, just Taeyong. 

That didn’t happen though. SuperM happened. 

Seeing Ten again was like being pushed back into the ocean of feelings he thought he’d left behind. The ocean is huge and threatened to swallow him up without an ounce of remorse, but Taeyong is a sailor, completely bewitched by wave after wave of emotion. SuperM was an opportunity, not only to grow closer to his seniors but also to rekindle the bond he had with his old groupmates. 

It wasn’t easy, not one bit. Their distance was more notable than their obvious chemistry, so much so that even their fans noticed, crudely referring to them as the “divorced couple”, which wasn’t far from the truth. Eventually, the distance grew smaller, enough for them to be playful on stage again, like the old golden days. Taeyong thought maybe there would be another chance there, not for some sort of relationship with Ten, he’d lost hope after seeing how close he is with Kun, but for a good, solid friendship; however, Ten’s bubbly attitude was reserved for the stage, as soon as they stepped off, it was back to his reserved, respectful character. It drove Taeyong crazy, luckily, he was good at hiding it… he thinks. Mark did tease him for the “incident” with Taemin, but that was just one time! 

Then they went their separate ways again, Taeyong back to his 127 activities, Ten back to WayV for their own activities. He was fine for a while and then Ten was invading his thoughts again, he snuck his way into everything. Into the ad-libs in the studio, into his lyrics, into his art, even into his games. He’s always described Ten as a cat and, recently, a fox, but there’s one little deer villager in his game that is cute and pretty, just like Ten, and he always refers to them as Ten instead of their real name (sorry Sol-Mi). 

It got to the point where’d he drive himself insane with anxiety, just thinking about his feelings, what he should do, what would happen, his feelings, every little thing led back to Ten. Everything in his brain was Ten, Ten, Ten. It was beginning to border on obsession, and now here he is, landing in China to find Ten, confess, and be rid of this madness. He can’t hold it in any longer. He isn’t sure what will happen after, actually, he isn’t even sure what will happen when he does show up unannounced, but he isn’t thinking about that right now. He’s got to get the emotions out before they suffocate him. 

As he hails a cab, he hopes the directions of WayV’s Airbnb are correct. They’re here for a fan meeting which probably already took place while he left Seoul, they’re probably in their lodging resting before they have to leave for the next location tomorrow. The sun has long set and the city is alight with neon signs. Taeyong would stare and start waxing lyrics about how the lights shine off of everything if he weren’t so strung up. 

The ride to the apartment-like building isn’t as long as he’d like it to be and soon he finds himself standing in the foyer of the building. This looks like an inconspicuous part of town, there’s not even security around, but he does spot a manager coming out of the hall past the receptionist desk, carrying vending machine goods in his hands. There’s his guide to them. 

He follows the manager to the elevator and gets in with him, relief flooding through him when the manager is too busy looking at his phone to get a good look at him or start up a conversation. He gets off on the third floor and Taeyong does too, following him until he stops at a door. Taeyong continues walking to a different door at the end of the corridor, feigning a look through his pockets for his key until the manager disappears into the room. 

So they’re definitely in there, but now Taeyong has to figure out when to make a move and where to hide while he waits because if the manager sees him, he’ll readily alert his own managers back in Korea. 

Game over. 

He waits in the hallway near the elevators when he hears the click of a door opening, he presses on the button summoning the lift. Out of the corner of his eye, the manager steps out of WayV’s room and into the room opposite. 

The elevator dings when it arrives but Taeyong is already knocking at the door with clammy hands. He pulls his face mask below his chin and wipes off his hands on his sweatpants. 

Here goes nothing. 

When the door opens, he’s face to face with Kun, who looks confused if not shocked to see him. 

“Taeyong-hyung? What,” he peeks down the hall, probably to check for anyone else but it’s just Taeyong, “What are you doing here?” 

Past Kun, he can see the other three, sitting around in the living area, looking back to see who’s at their door so late. 

“I just… came by. I need to talk to Ten.” Might as well be honest, he doesn’t wanna lie and cause more suspicion than necessary. “Is he here?” 

Kun glances back and nods, “He’s in his room.” He steps back, allowing Taeyong in and closing the door. He scrutinizes Taeyong’s clothes, “Does anyone else know you’re here?” 

Taeyong shakes his head no, waving hi to Xiaojun, Hendery, and Yangyang. The trio smile and wave back but he can still see the question in their eyes as they whisper amongst themselves, not like he can understand what they’re saying anyway. 

Kun pats Taeyong’s back, “Lucas and Winwin went out for hotpot. You can wait here while I get Ten.” 

Taeyong follows behind Kun, “Actually, I kind of need to talk to him in private.” 

Kun quirks an eyebrow but smiles nonetheless, “Whatever you say, hyung.” 

He stops in front of Ten’s door and leaves after giving Taeyong another pat on the shoulder. 

Taeyong stands there a moment, listening for anything, but can’t hear much. He really has no clue what he’s going to say. He knocks softly and not a moment after Ten’s voice comes through, “Snacks!!” 

He smiles, recognizing _that_ English word. 

The door flies open, Ten comes running out and smack dab into Taeyong, surprising them both. Ten stands back, rubbing his nose. 

“What the hell? Hyung?” 

Taeyong smiles shyly, rubbing at his chest. 

“Hi, Tenie.” 

“What are you doing here so late? Shouldn’t you be in Seoul?” 

“I just wanted to see you.” 

Ten quirks an eyebrow and crosses his arms, “You could’ve called or texted, hyung.” 

Taeyong grows shyer under Ten’s gaze. “Well, I needed to tell you something, but I wanted to do it in person.” 

Ten studies him for a moment before letting him into his room. There’s an empty chip bag on the bed beside multiple colored pens and an open notebook. Ten walks past him to push the things away, making a space for him and Taeyong to sit. 

“Still studying Japanese?” 

“Yeah, Yuta-hyung better watch himself.” 

Taeyong chuckles as he sits beside Ten. 

“You’re an inspiration to us all, Tenie.” 

“Did you tell anyone you were coming?” 

Ten brushes past the compliment with ease, still shy of the praise he deserves after all this time. 

“No, I’ve gotta go back to the airport at 11.” 

Ten hums and then crosses his legs, getting comfortable. He’s wearing a robe, pajama shorts underneath, and Taeyong averts his gaze to stare at his lap. 

“So what is it you wanted to tell me that is _so important_ that you had to fly all the way here without letting anyone know?” 

Taeyong gulps and wrings his hands in his lap, he doesn’t really have the mental will to meet Ten’s eyes, until Ten lifts his chin with a smirk on his face. 

“My eyes are up here, hyung.” 

Taeyong cackles nervously and pulls away from Ten’s fingers, and, woah, Ten is so pretty up this close. He looks amazing with the light makeup he often has to use, but without it, it’s a whole nother story. An idea pops into his head of dethroning the Mona Lisa and hanging up a portrait of Ten bare-faced. No, too small, his beauty should be on murals as big as the walls of the Lotte Tower. 

“Well?” Ten asks, breaking him out of his daze. 

“Well, I…” He breathes out and breathes in. “I want to confess.” 

Ten chuckles then, “Hyung, I’m not a priest.” 

Taeyong smiles slightly and shakes his head. “Ten, I have feelings for you.” 

Ten stops laughing. 

Taeyong gulps, this could ruin their bond for as long as they both work together. 

“I’ve had feelings for you for a while now since we were trainees… I didn’t really have the guts to confess before because I was afraid you would reject me, or worse, not want to be friends anymore, but I couldn’t keep quiet anymore. I fell for you, your resilience, your brain, your smile, your weirdness,” Taeyong smiles, every word that spills out of his mouth relieves the tension in his ribcage, “Tenie, you’re a dream in a dream. I know you probably don’t feel the same, and that’s ok. I didn’t come for you to feel like you owe me something. Because you don’t! But I needed to let you know how I feel about you. I don’t want to get in between whatever you and Kun have, and I hope our relationship doesn’t change… I just wanna be good friends-” 

Ten cuts him off there, cupping his hand over Taeyong’s mouth to shut him up, shaking his head. 

“Taeyong-hyung, wait, stop. What are you saying?” 

Taeyong frowns, “Do you want me to repeat that? Because I can’t remember word for word.” 

“No. What do you mean what Kun and I have?” 

Taeyong thinks Ten is just gonna completely ignore his confession. 

“Well, you two are very close, like close close, like more than friends close…” 

“Ha!” 

“You’re not?” 

“No! Kun is cute, I’ll admit that, but he’s not my type,” Ten rolls his eyes with a smirk. 

“What is your type?” 

Ten smiles, all cocky as he looks Taeyong up and down. 

“Cute leaders with amazing rapping skills.” 

Taeyong frowns and then gasps, “You like Mark?! Donghyuck isn’t going to be happy about-” 

“I don’t like Mark! I mean, not like that. He’s my bro!” 

“Not Mark? So then,” it takes a moment for it to click in Taeyong’s brain, but when it does he giggles, blushing pink and hiding his face in his hands. 

Ten smiles, his own cheeks tainted pink too. 

“That was the sweetest confession I’ve ever gotten… and I won’t lie, I had a crush on you too.” 

Taeyong smiles, excitedly, “Really?” 

Ten nods and inches closer to Taeyong, “And I won’t lie, and say that I’d be opposed to finding out what we have…” 

Taeyong’s eyes turn hopeful really quick. 

“But on one condition: we take it slow. I don’t take relationships lightly, and I don’t want to lose my job just yet. Is that ok?” 

Taeyong nods, eagerly. 

“Good.” 

Ten glances at his phone, “There’s still some time left before you have to go. Enough time to catch up, right, hyung?” 

Taeyong smiles and nods, discreetly reaching for Ten’s hand to intertwine their fingers. 

Eventually, Taeyong does have to leave Ten behind and return to Seoul, but when he does, he feels a hundred times better. This was the start of something new, of something equal parts Ten and Taeyong.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I wrote this on a complete whim after listening to the titled song, I think you can tell with the ending, lol  
> Anyway, I just wanted to put this out. I have two other stories in the works. Both Taeten and +10k, so please look forward to those.  
> <3


End file.
